Last night, Americans were treated to the longest lunar eclipse in 500 years. Watching it required a good deal of patience, as the orb floated slowly across the sky, apparently unchanging from moment to moment. However, eventually there was real progress and beauty, as the full moon trimmed down to a tiny fingernail sliver, it’s shaded face barely visible in reflected Earth-light, then brightened against the pitch black of the sky before being dimmed by the rising sun. And at every stage, it was more lively, more interesting, and infinitely more attractive than the 8 hour plus speech that GOP leader Kevin McCarthy delivered on the House floor overnight in order to delay the final House vote on the Build Back Better legislation. Goaded by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’ suggestion earlier in the day that Donald Trump should be named speaker if Republicans win the House in 2022, because McCarthy fails to provide the party with any leadership, the House minority leader attempted to free his inner Trump. The result was a speech where “rambling” would doesn’t begin to cover the incoherent and disconnected claims, connected by occasional arm waving and table pounding apparently designed to show that McCarthy is just as angry, vindictive, and nonsensical as Trump. As Rep. Jaime Raskin reported mid-way through this event, McCarthy managed to speak for over four hours without producing “a single memorable phrase, original insight, or even a joke.” And then he did it for four more hours. Which makes it even more … is there a word that means something is remarkable for being absolutely unremarkable? Read more